Private/Closed Bootleg Bros 4

[Fraseandchico]

Axe
​

When Snake was shot right into a hallway, the monstrous form let out another cry of rage, but did not follow. Indeed, even a monster who rarely wanted to think knew that going into a small hallway into stairs would be a mistake for one whose greatest manoeuvre was in the air. Instead, it noticed an explosive barrel, just in the corner of the hangar, in the corner of it's eyes, grabbing it and tossing it as hard as possible into the hallway, causing it to fall down the stairs after Snake. Soon after, he drew his last firecracker - The others had dropped out of the satchel during the fight - and lit it, before throwing it down to follow, the two explosive set to blow while following Snake, at least heavily damaging the stairway if it didn't kill him.

Then, it made it's own move, shooting up into the air before darting around Outer Centre to get under, beginning to rush through each and every support beam on it's way to try and reach the area under the stairway as fast as possible from outside...

 

[comic]

Solid Snake​

Launching through the doorway into the lower facility of Outer Heaven, Snake barely paid attention to the explosions that took place behind. The bumping and rolling of the barrel and the firecracker weren't nearly as effective as Snake's swinging, so he'd been easily out of harm's way by the time this went into effect.

However, the rumbling of the facility alerted Snake to accelerate his Plan C. Plan A would have to wait. So as the monstrosity tore through each of the support beams, this small part of Outer Heaven began to collapse, and it fell into the ocean, slowly sinking below the waves. No Snake emerged from it, and its dark form began to sink further and further. It would appear Axe had finally won, having to resort to his most powerful form---but just as it had with Snake earlier, no fanfare began to play. No portal appeared. The battle was not won.

An echo of a claim...

"He who controls the battlefield, controls history."

Snake had been doing more than just accessing simple controls from the command center. He'd been tapping into all of it to have remote access to the entire facility. Advanced as Outer Heaven's defenses were, they were still flawed 1980's defenses to Snake's current and more advanced capabilities, not even remotely a problem for the likes of Otacon.

"You're pretty strong," a voice echoed from all over the massive facility, one that didn't belong to Snake. "But unfortunately, it will only get you so far."

While Axe had gone monster form, Snake's contingency had been activated by Otacon, who'd been given access to the facility during Snake's time in the control room. So while the beast had torn up one part of the facility, the rest of it began to activate its defenses, dozens of missile silos emerging from the sides, from below, from the surface, alongside gattling turrets, all aimed at Axe as he rose into the air. The missiles in particular were almost identical to Snake's own launcher, capable of being manually directed at a target. But in the end, neither Snake nor Otacon believed these defenses would be enough to bring down the monstrosity. In fact, the entirety of Outer Heaven's defenses were a simple distraction, as water began to violently bubble from the ocean where Snake had seemingly drowned. There had been something in that part of the facility that Snake was evidently intending on using.​

 

[Fraseandchico]

Axe
​

"SHUT UP!" Axe's form let out, a cry from his usual personality. "I'M GONNA WIN, CUZ IF I DIE, EVERYONE I CARE ABOUT'LL DIE, SO SHUT UP ALREADY!" It added, his thoughts surfacing somewhat. Suddenly, missiles began to fire at him from several angles while a huge part of the platform fell down. While it didn't signify a win, it was clear Axe merely assumed Snake had done something down there in order to stay in the fight.

So, seeing these missiles come right at him, Axe used his wings to try and avoid the missiles the best he could, having a couple close scrapes with them. Suddenly, just before one could reach him, he noticed something in the corner of his eye once more, bubbling water. Now, Axe had disoriented himself by now due to the missiles, so he couldn't quite tell it was something with Snake, but he was quick to decide it was a problem. So, he moved to the side of an incoming missile, and quickly reangled it towards the bubbling water, giving it a good kick before landing down back on the platform, and waiting...

 

[comic]

Solid Snake​

However, the redirected missile (as stated prior) redirected itself after. Even as missiles were dodged or avoided, they changed direction quickly, zipping through the air, to continue coming the monster's way. Waiting simply wasn't an option, especially with gattling turrets trained on Axe, spewing 50 cal rounds at 20 rounds per minute, enough to tear apart a tank. The monster needed a greater strategy than avoiding to clear this particular obstacle. Any missiles he dispatched too, would be replaced by more firing from each of the dozens of silos. The only reliable way to actually end this barrage would be to eliminate each of the silos, as well as the turrets.

Still, the bubbling continued. Something massive seemed to be emerging from the ocean. Something powerful.​

 

[Fraseandchico]

Axe​

Axe, seeing the missiles come back as he landed back down, scowled. With his shield in hand, he shot out the pickaxe, sweeping hard enough to destroy the closest missiles, before turning attention to bashing right through most of the silos and turrets. In the process, he also repicked up a small bottle that had landed on the edge of a platform earlier...

Once that was all done and he handled the rest a similar way, he noticed something rising from the water, instantly deducing this was Snake with some kind of weapon - So, without any hesitation and going full force, he charged in the air directly at this powerful...something, extending out his pickaxe and swinging full force, as if intending to slice a large part of the top right off.

 

[comic]

Solid Snake​

Axe dashed forward, ready to cleave into Snake's Plan C, but just as he was about to, a massive appendage burst out of the water, a massive arm that swatted the monster aside, who went flying away, landing upon a distended bridge as he did so, rolling to a stop. He wasted no time rising back to his feet with a growl to see a gargantuan robot rising from the ocean, rising higher and higher into the air.

M E T A L
G E A R
S A H E L A N T H R O P U S

Heaven's Divide [it's important that this plays as you read ]

"You're not the only one fighting for something bigger than yourself," Snake stated, seated within the cockpit of Sahelanthropus. The greatest weapon of Huey Emmerich and the USSR. Unlike later Metal Gears, this one was not only piloted, unable to be automated like Metal Gear REX, but it was also much larger than any other Metal Gear Snake had seen.

Powerful as it was, it was only capable of so much. Once again, Snake wasn't relying solely on this to secure him a victory. He was relying on it to beat down the monster enough for Plan A to continue. So as the monster roared, and burst forward again with its unique weapon, Sahelanthropus reached towards its waist, and conjured what appeared to be a whip, arcing with molten energy as it swiped the weapon, which solidified into an ebony sword, slamming into Axe's shield, who was halted in the air, pushing back against the larger foe.

Suddenly, Axe's shield burst apart, shattered as a metallic pylon suddenly erupted from its center, spreading outward into a mass of spikes, one of which pierced into the monster's side. Axe roared, flapping his wings to move backward as a pair of twin gatling guns revved along the Metal Gear's face, a buzz of bullets spraying toward the beast. With the flap of his wings, Axe shot up, Sahelanthropus tracking him as he went, the bullets flying just below him.

"WHATEVER YOU USE, I'LL TEAR IT APART!" Axe screamed, bursting down and directly into the trajectory of the gatling guns. "I WON'T LOSE!"

"Give it your all," Snake replied as bullets pelted violently against Axe, some tearing through his flesh, some bouncing off, but he landed on the front of Sahelanthropus, claws ripping into the turrets, ripping one off, then the other, with quick ferocity. On the Metal Gear's crotch was mounted some sort of barrel, which swiveled up toward Axe while he did this, and a burst of fire jettisoned from the groin-mounted flamethrower. With a gust of wings, Axe flew back from the encroaching inferno, baring his fangs as he shot downward, but Sahelanthropus' archaea blade cut into his path. With barely any time to react, the beast lurched backward, and as the blade swiped through the air mere inches before him, a pulse of kinetic energy burst from its path, blowing Axe backward, wings fluttering to regain control.

Two missile silos opened up on the Metal Gear, and a torrent of missiles fired toward the monster just as it regained itself, zipping and zooming about the missiles, but the shoulder-mounted canon appeared to have been charging up, and as Axe emerged from the first wave of missiles, the massive railgun fired. The beam of a devastating kinetic slug burst forward. Bullets and missiles, Axe could dodge, but this moved too fast for his eyes to even track, and before he knew it, the slug had erupted against his chest.

The much smaller form of the monster crashed into the facility, bursting through several walls and floors, a deep and gaping black hole opened up in his chest, his wings singed, his eyelids struggling to stay up as he shoved a metal beam off of him. Through his hazy vision, he could see Metal Gear Sahelanthropus stomping nearer, before it suddenly began to lower, crouching... and leaped. It jumped high, high into the air, before it began to descend, coming crashing down upon Axe's position.

The beast growled, pushing himself to his feet, clutching at his chest wound. He opened his left palm to glare down at the red stone, which began to glow brightly, brighter than it had before in any prior fight. While in monster form, with the red stone at his disposal, Axe shook his head, shaking off the growing fatigue, ignoring the gaping hole in his chest as his wings stretched. A burst of wind later, and he was shooting upward, his left arm becoming enveloped with crimson energy, and as Sahelanthropus fell upon him---the two collided...

Snake shielded his eyes, glaring down at the explosion that had just taken place. One of his hands gripped upon the rope of the parachute he'd used to eject from Sahelanthropus while it had been at the zenith of its ascension. He'd been hoping Axe would go for it head-on, and while he was right, he hadn't actually expected the Metal Gear to be consumed in such a fierce eruption. It was most certainly destroyed by that last attack, and due to its height in the air, the smoke was quickly clearing from the winds drifting over the ocean, revealing Monster Axe hovering in the center of where the explosion had taken place.

With a simple click, Snake had removed his safety harness, and now began to free-fall through the air, his eyes locked onto Axe, who hadn't yet noticed him, no doubt disoriented from the explosion, bits of charred metal falling to the facility and the ocean. Conjuring his shock knife, Snake stuck it between his teeth (careful not to harm the half-smoked cigar still in his mouth) as he pressed his hands against his sides, his legs together, the soldier a human missile, rapidly approaching the monster. At the last moment, Snake spread his arms out as he grabbed his blade, and with a quick slash, Axe let out a roar, his right wing severed from his body.

Still plummeting, Snake procured Cypher, who slowed his fall drastically, struggling to pull the soldier upward as Axe's remaining wing flapped helplessly, unable to keep the monster in the air. Again with a tactic, Snake swung away from Cypher to intercept the falling Axe, grasping onto the beasts shoulders and plunging the shock knife under Axe's left shoulderblade, activating the blade's secondary function. Powerful volts of electricity arced throughout the monster, Snake's stealth suit immune to its effects.

Axe let out a mighty roar, but again, this was part of Snake's plan, as before Axe was even halfway through the roar, Snake had shoved a metal cylinder into his gaping mouth. In response, the monster chomped down, and broke open the grenade. Red smoke burst out out of it, and due to the fall, much of it was quickly blown down Axe's throat. The taste was no doubt awful, but that was the least of the beasts concern as Snake grabbed the remaining wing, pulling violently against it as he pushed his legs against the middle of Axe's back, the ground rapidly approaching---

PHOOM!

Rolling unceremoniously across the floor, Snake angled himself to skid the last couple meters on his boots, his chest heaving, stopping only a foot before the fall off the edge of the platform. He narrowed his eyes toward Axe, who lay in a crater of dented metal. Shaking himself off, Snake began to walk toward Axe, limping slightly due to a twisted ankle from the fall.

The walk was short, and Axe weakly opened his eyelids to glare at Snake. "YOU... YOU STILL HAVEN'T WON..." he groaned, still not ready to give up.

"Hm..." Snake sighed, shaking his head before he took a puff from his cigar, plucking it out of his mouth. "Not yet. I probably won't in the end, but that's not why I'm here. What's happening here is bigger than both of us, kid..."

"...I WON'T GIVE UP..." Axe assured, pushing his arms beneath him to begin shakily pushing himself to his feet, a trail of crimson smoke trailing from his mouth as he spoke.

"You don't strike me as the type to give up. That's good..." Snake nodded, looking approvingly down at Axe, who was struggling to push himself up, his remaining wing shifting weakly. "You'll need that determination on the road ahead. There's a whole other world in your future, and you'll need all the grit you can manage to survive it. But this fight isn't yours. It's mine. The next time you find yourself losing a fight... remember this: you're never going to be the best fighter in the room. As long as you remember that, you'll always be prepared for any battle."

"...WHY... WHY ARE YOU TELLING ME THIS...?" Axe groaned, looking up at Snake through one eye, his other swollen.

"Because this fight might be over, but your battle is just beginning," the soldier nodded, before he flicked his cigar toward the phospherate grenade remnants lying nearby, faint red smoke drifting about it and leading to Axe's mouth, where more of the crimson fog was still leaking from.

Turning his head away, Snake shielded his eyes from watching as the kid was blown apart from the inside out, effectively ending the battle, which was confirmed by a fanfare echoing through Outer Heaven, and a portal opening up behind the soldier. He turned toward it, and began to walk forward, but just before he stepped through, he turned his head to the left with a parting will;

"Good luck."

And he stepped through.

Winner: Snake!
Loser: Axe!​

 

[ArmedBlue]

Rebellio vs Weavile (auto perms received)
​

The spear-turned-mace came in very quickly, Weavile's eyes slitting as her claw was covered in a dark aura, making use of Sucker Punch and leaping over the mace. Her claw smashed into the incoming chunk of ice, ice shards and cold air flying everywhere--- but she didn't expect yet another layer to the attack, Rebellio bursting through the ice to slash at the Pokémon's midsection.

The Falcon's scythe left a gash along the Pokémon's torso, earning a hiss from the weasel, who leapt backward just before Rebellio could follow up with another slash. Landing a decent distance from the Adept, Weavile got ready to use Double Team once more... when she realized the move was out of PP, the momentary shock giving Rebellio enough time to close in again, though the Pokémon managed to use Sucker Punch once more, sliding to the left, delivering a quick, shadow-enveloped punch--- but Rebellio had expected this, swinging his scythe in unison to meet the counterattack.

The two collided, shadow and thread bursting from the impact area, the clash powerful enough to send both fighters skidding backwards. Suddenly, the thread that had been scattered along the ground converged on Weavile's position, trapping her in a cocoon of durable thread. While Weavile attempted to free herself, Rebellio launched a string from one of his hands, striking the ensnared Pokémon. With a heave, the Falcon lifted his foe into the air, slamming her down roughly on the ground behind him.

The thread covering Weavile's body broke apart upon impact, the Pokémon near immediately scrambling to her feet before leaping toward Rebellio, firing a large icicle to cover her approach. The Adept promptly sliced through the icicle, expecting his opponent to be right behind it. To his surprise, Weavile had slid between his legs in a split second, quickly leaping upward and delivering a powerful swipe of her claws to the back of the Falcon's head. Her claws drew blood, crimson coating Rebellio's fluffy white hair, the Adept turning on a dime and swinging his scythe, Weavile ducking under it before making to slash at his chest while his arm was still extended.

What she hadn't accounted for, however, was the large spike that jutted out of Rebellio's chest the moment she raised her claws. The spike pierced through the Pokémon's torso, crimson coating the ground as Weavile's eyes went wide, and she went limp. A fanfare echoed as the spike disappeared, Rebellio grabbing the Pokémon and gently putting her down on the ground, giving her two simple words:

"Good fight."

With that, the Adept stood up, turning around and walking through the newly opened portal in front of him.

Winner: Rebellio!
Loser: Weavile!

 

[comic]

Metal Sonic vs Death vs Amaterasu​

With a whip of ink, Metal Sonic's energy spheres were sent right back at him. The android let out a slightly agitated been, before firing three more balls that collided with the original three, canceling each other out. Amaterasu's momentary distraction, however, is what gave Death a small moment of respite, one he took advantage of. A scythe was launched her way, and as Amaterasu moved back to coolly swipe it aside with her beads, the scythe erupted, dozens of smaller scythes swarming around her counter, before rapidly converging upon the wolf from every direction. Even as she moved her beads to knock aside each of the scythes, many still met their mark, with the Goddess at their epicenter.

She bared her fangs with a howl, but as she prepared her next attack, she was once again taken advantage of. Metal Sonic had barreled his way out of the foliage, and just as Amaterasu realized how open she was, the robot had curled into a ball and slammed into her full-force. A crack resounded as ribs shattered, and the wolf went flying, her body tumbling to a stop---though she wasn't down yet, despite being fatally wounded.

Death took the opportunity to appear directly in front of Metal Sonic in a flash, swinging the scythe upward. Metal uncurled, and shifted to the side, avoiding the blade, though a portal had opened up, one that the scythe pierced through. Metal turned to catch the weapon, before he realized he hadn't been the target. The scythe's blade protruded out of Amaterasu, who had been struggling to get to her feet.

Just like that, she was eliminated.

Metal Sonic blitzed forward, slugging into Death's ribs. More cracks could be heard, similar to Amaterasu earlier, but this time the robot didn't relent, his hand grasping the reaper by the throat and flashing them both through the air. Metal slammed Death into the ground, dragging him violently through it as he flew, before he lifted the reaper up, and began to pummel his skull with metallic fists.

Bone cracked, Metal's fists a blur, before another flash of light burst from Death, his arms raised. His robes had shifted to a lighter shade, and Metal suddenly realized his frenzied punches... weren't hitting as hard. Before, Death had heavily recoiled from each hit, but now, his face budged an inch with each strike.

A beep equivalent to "oh shit" came from Metal, and before he could zoom away, it was Death's skeletal hand that grasped the robot by the throat with the same intent, zooming both of them to the ground. Metal tried to break Death's grasps, slamming his arms against the forearm with all of his strength, but not so much as a crack formed. Death's new form had made him incredibly resilient to physical attacks. Just before Metal could be slammed into the ground, a skull manifested from Death's hand around the robot's throat, said skull biting down hard on Metal's head as Death let go.

BOOM!

A crater was blasted upward as Metal crashed into the ground, the skull having carried him the rest of the way as Death hovered above, staring impassively down. The cloud of dust that had erupted from the impact obscured Metal, who remained hidden inside, the only sound being...
A fluttering of wings?

Suddenly, a swarm of bats rose from the cloud, all metallic. Metal's Bat Guard, which zoomed toward Death, who summoned forth more scythes to match the bats. He found out quickly that they erupted when struck, and with each bat that was destroyed, they blasted a fresh black cloud. In only a couple seconds, Death became enveloped in black smoke, the reaper scowling as he realized the strategy a moment too late.

A blast of crimson energy pierced through his skull, right between the eyes. It was brief, a blink and you'll miss it moment, but as Death hovered there for a second longer, the lights in his eyes faded as smoke drifted up from the fresh hole in skull, before he fell out of the air, crashing limply against the ground as a fanfare began to echo throughout the arena.

Metal Sonic stared at the body for only a second, before he turned away to the gateway that had appeared.

Winner: Metal Sonic!
Losers: Death and Amaterasu!
​

The Lobby​

Metal arrived in the lobby, eyes sliding from left to right to take in everything. Every other match had concluded. Specter and Master Chief remained from the Winner's Bracket, and Metal's next opponents before the final battle? Solid Snake and Rebellio, the four all standing opposite Metal.

The Generic Host was nowhere to be found, his usual platform lying empty. He had yet to reappear.

Snake narrowed his eyes at Metal, having watched the end of the fight on the screen above the gateway. That was exactly what he hadn't wanted to happen. While Snake had no intention of winning this tournament, he knew that the likes of Metal Sonic and Specter didn't deserve to win, and it would be catastrophic if they did. The rewards here were more valuable than any Smash Bros tourney.

Snake let out a low growl, directed at Rebellio to get the kid's attention. As the soldier turned his back to Metal, he gestured at himself with his them, then a finger at Rebellio, before subtly making a cutting motion with his thumb across his throat before gesturing in Metal's direction, all in rapid and subtle succession, intent on delivering Rebellio the message of teaming up against Metal Sonic. If the kid had any brains, he'd agree to dispatch the bigger threat before worrying about one another.

"GOOOOOD MORNING GAMING'S BEEEEST!" the sudden appearance of Generic Host appearing before the gateways made Snake quickly turn back, glaring at the hologram, who was clapping... but something seemed off about him. His form seemed to be slightly flickering, and his voice seemed to be a few milliseconds delayed from the movement of his mouth. "Congratulations and uh... all of that jazz. It's like I always say about chaos theory. Life, uh... finds a way... heh heh..." he winked at them. "Here we are at the end, and there's only so few of you left. Forty gone, and five remain... but after this next little bout, there will be two left standing. The folks back home are eating this up, you know, it's very uh... satisfying. In fact, we actually have a few messages from fans. I've chosen one for each of you."

He snapped his fingers, and the screen that usually showed the brackets now displayed the first message.

Dear Specter,
Hi, my name is Oliver and I live in Albany. You're my favorite because I love monkeys the most. I'm said the Bloons Monkeys didn't get further, but I know you'll win!

"What the fuck, that's not what I chose. What is this, Sesame Street?" Host scowled as he turned to look at the screen. "Whatever, nevermind, no fan mail anymore. Lost privilege. I doubt there's any uh... real reason to keep you all from killing each other again, right? So here's your new update;"

Winner's Bracket

Specter vs Master Chief

Loser's Bracket

Metal Sonic vs Snake vs Rebellio

"Alright, kids," Host winked, waggling his fingers at them. "Have fuuuuun~"​

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

Specter looked up and around at the message the host posted up, as well as the announcements for the last brackets. Specter smirked, shaking his head. This was absurd, but he'd be lying if he didn't feel gratified that this was all coming to a close soon. His plan was progressing smoothly, the final important stage was coming fast.

Metal winning the losers bracket would come as no surprise, but he was passively updating the chip just in case. Keeping lola in his back pocket for what was to come, he made his way toward the archway, passing Master Chief on his way.

"We have business to settle, It's past since time we take care of it." He spoke without turning his head or breaking his pace. "You shall bare witness to the ascendence of monkey kind."

And with that, he moved through the arc way, the chair and it's owner both dissapear into the space that lie on the other side.

 

[ArmedBlue]

Rebellio​

The last of the battles had concluded. Only Chief and Specter remained in the Winner's Bracket, an outcome he'd completely expected. The three-way fight was a little more difficult to gauge, but Metal Sonic eventually came out on top, securing a spot in Loser's Finals, which would be another three-way fight. It would likely be his toughest battle yet.

A low growl coming from his right got his attention, Rebellio's head turning to face Snake. His series of quick, subtle gestures clearly indicated he was suggesting a team-up, the Falcon nodding in response. It seemed they both understood just how much of a threat Metal was.

After establishing that alliance, Rebellio walked away from the soldier, though he didn't head for the gateway just yet. Instead, he approached Master Chief, whose opponent had just left the lobby.

"Hey Chief." He spoke, his usual soft smile present as always, hand outstretched for the Spartan to shake. "You got this."

 

[comic]

Master Chief​

Specter passed through the barrier, wasting no time.
"Chief... are you sure about this?" Kalmiya asked.
"I am," the Spartan said, reaching up to the back of his head... and tugging out the AI chip.
​

Weapon Containment Device Removed
Verification ID [309-270-238]​

> > AI NOT DETECTED < <

​

>>>CONTINUE<<<

​

With a single thought, the Mjolnir Gen 3 acknowledged the Chief's answer, the continue key activating, the suit processing Kalmiya's removal. With that, Chief turned his gaze toward Rebellio, who was approaching for what was possibly their final friendly encounter during this tournament.

"Hey Chief. You got this."

"No. You do," John stated, taking Rebellio's hand for the shake, but when the Spartan pulled his hand away, he left Kalmiya's AI chip in Rebellio's palm. "I can't risk her falling into Specter's hands. You've seen what happened to Lola. Keep her safe."​

 

[ArmedBlue]

Rebellio
​

"Wait. Is this..." Rebellio began, his mind processing exactly what had been bestowed upon him, Chief giving his reasoning for his actions. He was entrusting him with Kalmiya. The Adept found himself without words as he stared down at the A.I. chip in his palm, deep in thought for a moment, when he closed his palm gently, holding Kalmiya's chip close to his chest.

"I will. And I promise I'll give her back once we both make it out of our fights." He replied, giving his ally a nod, determination filling his eyes.

Lola
​

Having lost her connection with Kalmiya, Lola was quick to purge her message log, just as her fellow A.I. suggested. The end of the Winner's Bracket was nigh, and it seemed she'd have a front-row seat for it. Hopefully that didn't mean she'd get caught in the crossfire...

Busting out of Specter's pocket, the A.I. turned to face the simian, hovering right next to his chair. "Well, somebody's confident about this upcoming battle." She told Specter, thinking back to not just what he'd told Master Chief a moment ago, but the way Specter had been talking about his victory during the entire tournament. A bit arrogant, certainly. "Uh... good luck, I guess?"​

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

"Indeed. My victory is assured, my synthetic friend." Specter commented, pausing his chair, propping an elbow up on the armrest of the throne. "We shall start this without delay, don't you agree? Sooner it is finished, the sooner you are reunited with your master."

Treating this as nothing more than a chore, the simian snapped his fingers, closing his eyes with a smirk.

"Computer, be a darling and cue up my moon base, the secondary viewing deck if you would be so kind."

 

[comic]

Master Chief​

As Rebellio accepted Kalmiya, the boy made a promise. The Spartan gave no verbal response, instead raising an arm to gently pat it on Rebellio's shoulder, then gave a nod of his head. With that, John turned and made his way into the gateway, transporting into the only battle remaining on the first bracket.

As the anti-void engulfed him, the disembodied female voice asked her usual question, but just like Host, something was wrong with her, her voice having brief and slight stutters. Chief had seen the types of maps Specter often loaded for himself. Ones where he had control of the environment, was familiar with the battlefield, so John had one simple place in mind to potentially counter anything Specter came up with.

"Installation 05, The Library, Quarantine Zone. November 3, 2552. Thel 'Vadam's route."

John himself had not personally partaken in the conflict within the Library, but he knew his long-time ally Thel 'Vadam, the Arbiter, had. Dark and twisting Forerunner corridors, gondola rides across vast distances over gaping chasms, Flood biomass sprouting up all around, Forerunner defenses working overtime to try and quell the Flood outbreak. The Chief had seen all of the footage before, captured from the unlucky marines who'd become lost in the labyrinthine Library of Delta Halo.

This selection was hopefully one of the most reliable in upsetting anything Specter had planned, especially considering the rapid Flood biomass growth that would take place, and quite possibly overtake elements of Specter's map.
​

Solid Snake​

Rebellio was in agreement. An alliance was formed. These three-way conflicts made sure that a map adhering to the specifications of any one fighter would be difficult, unless Snake was left as the only one to chose a map. In that event, he'd be given home field advantage. As much as he'd like to use Outer Heaven again, that simply wasn't an option. Metal Sonic would be aware of any tricks Snake could pull there thanks to the recorded footage from his battle with Axe. He needed to be more selective. He needed something discreet. Something familiar. Something he could use.

So when he was asked to provide location when he stepped into the portal, Dave's answer was simple: "Zanzibar Land, 1999."​

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

Specter



Just like that, the surroundings had begun to change. Ancient architecture fused in with futuristic design. They had found themselves in a particular large room that served as the primary access junction. There were holes in the wall that seemed like ports for sentinels to fly through to where they needed to access, as well a Gondola suspended over a large divide at the edge of the room.

The divide was filled with floating magnetic platforms that were inverted, Tesla coils reaching high up to places unknown, and the walls themselves appeared mixed with an ancient metal and a shimmering techno-glass. It was a sight to behold.

"What an interesting location, befitting of such an occasion, no?"

Specter turned his chair around to face Master Chief, smirking in response to his appearance here before him.

"Then let's not delay, this stage shall be your final resting place! Ha!"

The thrusters of Specter's chair flared up as he jet past a constructor sentinel, flying away from Chief. His right hand pulsated with a Violet energy as fired off a ring of psychic power. The ring would begin close as it took up a lot of room in the limited space they had. To making it even more enticing, he fired off missiles from his chair to bombard the exit and edges of the ring, if he were to try anything sneaky.

 

[comic]

Master Chief​

The forming environment told Chief all he needed to know: his plan had only half succeeded. Enough environmental damage could provoke a response from any sentinel system, and if Specter's last battles were any indication, he was happy to destroy everything around him if it meant destroying his opponent. Secondly was the gondola, which led to places unknown, as the open exterior beyond this room was clouded in a dark, heavy green smog. Flood spores.

Specter announced his intention of no longer delaying. Chief didn't bother to interrupt him, allowing the ape to then rise up, a ring of purple energy pulsing from his hand to move toward the Spartan, intending on encircling John, before they would close in. He'd seen this move before. Perhaps to add flare, or maybe because Specter was aware of 117's prior displays of versatility, he fired missiles to move alongside this ring, as well as inside of it. Without Kalmiya to register the trajectory of each missile and the ring, that left Chief to operate it manually. He could perform it in just a second, his HUD tracking his eye movement to isolate each of the projectiles, but Kalmiya could have done that almost instantaneously, faster than any sentient being could think.

So in the same moment Specter had launched his attack, the MA40 had been slapped into 117's hands, his HUD switching it from "automatic fire" to "semi-automatic" with a thought, and he feathered the trigger the second after he'd isolated each approach signature. One bullet pure missile, but their distance to each other meant he didn't need to end up wasting ammunition, as several of the missiles erupting would cause a chain reaction. It was possible that alone could destabilize the ring, maybe even disperse it. Should it remain unaffected, the Spartan would wait for it to get as close as possible, before using his repulsor to blast the energy to the ground and away from him.​

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

Specter


Master Chief was on the pure defensive. As it should be. Specter needed to keep pressing his offensive so that Chief wouldn't be able to press his. His hands were coated in a flow of rainbow colored energy. That's when he cast them to the side simultaneously, two projectiles flying out from the sides of either arm, a total of four.

They whizzed with the sound of burning fireworks, a trail of multicolored energy behind them. They'd swerve and track where Chief would end up, slamming and exploding where he would be with a swirl of anomalous energy. he might be able to worry specific energy attacks if timed right, but explosions would be out of his league.

 

[comic]

Master Chief​

Specter's next attack was to summon two sparkling and fizzing blasts of energy, in a form struggling to be condensed and multicolored. This was new, Chief couldn't recall seeing this attack before---though his opponent did have a plethora of abilities to memorize. Judging by the color, however, Specter's attacks were different depending on their color coding. Judging from the rainbow coding of this one, and its volatile form, he had to assume that it was a stronger attack than most. As his repulsor recharged, the Spartan tossed down a drop wall, its orange features erecting with a subtle hum, procuring just in the path of the attack.

Two explosions rocked the room, and the drop wall was extinguished by the double whammy---impressive, considering they could normally withstand several direct hits from Scorpion tanks before puttering out. The wall absorbed much of the kientic force of the explosion, and the bit that did hit Chief only made him take a step back, his MA40 switching from "semi-automatic" to "burst fire" as he followed Specter's movements, utilizing the radar to keep an estimation of him as three 7.62x51mm rounds were fired with each pull of the trigger, accelerating faster than normal bullets thanks to the hammer barrel of the MA40 accelerating the propulsion of its projectiles.​

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

Specter


A wall of energy, hm? I have that too.

To match, he summoned his energy shield around himself, the psychic energy crackling to life as it came forth. The energy barrier covered both him and the chair together, looking hazardous to the touch.

Preparing a othering psychic attack, bullets impacted his shield. Analyzing this, he realized something: Energy dampens these bullets far more than typical reduction, perhaps they were made for pure focus on physical damage? If that were the case, he must not let it impact many thing but energy.

The shield still stable, Specter activated the Gondola with his left hand, the old tech whirring to life as it started up. His right hand meanwhile, made a slashing motion in the air. Along the trial of the slash, three cyan projectile were floating in place. After a second of lag time, the three projectiles fired forward at three different angles, each one with a slight curve to them for limited tracking. The goal? Leave Chief behind while he takes the Gondola, Chief's only method of following.

 

[comic]

Master Chief​

The ker-thunk of the gondola elevator activating could be heard before its anti-gravity boosters activated, and the gondola began to move, slowly at first. As John slapped a fresh clip into his MA40, he noticed a Forerunner control panel near the edge of the room. It was the only visible one, so he sprinted his way toward it, not failing to notice Specter's follow-up attack: several cyan balls of energy, converging on him in a curved transition. With a leap, the Spartan flipped backward through the air during his jump, one of the balls dispersing against the ground, the other two managing to avoid this as they curved to continue following. While upside-down at the zenith of his own arc, the Spartan fired his grappleshot to the ground, and propelled toward it as the remaining balls converged where he'd been a split second prior---and fizzed out against one another.

With a deft land just in front of the panel, 117 raised a hand and placed his palm on the hard light surface. The gondola suddenly stopped, and began to move back toward the room.​

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

Specter


Does he think pressing a panel will stop this? He saw me activate this with my powers. With just a flick of my hand, I-

...

Now, isn't that interesting!

The panel refused to be activated. For some reason, the human was able to, but he was not? Perhaps some kind of isomorphic system? Or that this place was design for purely humans in mind. But if that were the case, wouldn't the alloy of design structure of this location also reflect on Chief's design? No. This place couldn't be human. But was built with them on the brain. Fascinating!

"Touché, so the stage selection was not a random home field advantage. Well played. But you'd be foolish to think buttons would be enough to punch a hole in my plans!"

That's when Specter abandoned the Gondola, moving past it while sitting on his chair, floating backwards along the path it was going to take. While he gained distance, he charged two orange spheres in his hands. That's when he tossed them into the air. Halfway through their distance, they shattered apart, becoming a combined hellstorm of flaming-kinetic debris, aiming to pelt Chief while he gained even more of an advantage.

 

[comic]

Master Chief​

Specter's momentary confusion about the inner-workings of Forerunner technology gave Chief the time he needed to procure a Banished spike grenade, tossing it up at one of the sentinel dispensaries. It lobbed just underneath, the spikes specially designed to surgically attach to any surface. A moment later, it blew, releasing its spikes as deadly shrapnel, though that wasn't near enough to the distance of Specter.

This ploy was to blast off the cap of the dispensary, the thick piece of Forerunner metal separated from the thin attachment that would normally lift it up to begin deploying sentinels. The cap was five feet tall, three feet wide, and half a foot thick. Its purpose was to act as a secondary shield for the Spartan, who caught it and magnetically attached the cap to his forearm. This was only half the strategy, however, as the bomb blast, and the removal of the cap, had provoked a sentinel response.

A white light shone from the now revealed dispensary, and it let out a hum, before a sentinel materialized out of it. Chief's proximity ensured that it turned its sentinel beam toward the Spartan, laser revving up, but Specter's attack interrupted it. As Chief used the large cap to begin blocking the attack, the sentinel itself had no defenses for it, the pelting debris slugging into it, falling into its inner circuits, and blasting the sentinel out of the air.

John skid back a foot or so, before his boots magnetically attached to the ground, and he continued to use the cap to tank the brunt of the debris, very few going around the shield to pummel at his energy shields, which were slowly but gradually weakening in integrity. Grappleshotting the sentinel beam out of the now-destroyed sentinel, 117 leaped off the ground, bringing a leg to his chest before kicking from the nearby wall and toward the gondola as it came to a full rest back in its usual spot. Turning midair, Chief one-armed the laser, spewing a beam of red energy from it toward Specter.​

 

[Psymallard]

Metal Sonic(auto perms received(does this even count as autoing or something beyond that?(either way, I was given permission)))
As the Metal Sonic's analyzing eyes swept the lobby, he was met with the final four, besides himself. Specter had demolished that silly duck(hopefully for good), and that Master Chief had bested Hareta, a feat the robot knew from experience was not easy. Meanwhile, his two foes exchanged a silent message, making little effort to hide it besides turning away. Metal was no fool, especially since the room was bare. If they wanted to make an alliance, so be it. He was the fastest thing alive, after all.

Then The Host appeared rather loudly. This prompted the robot's digital eyes to coolly slide to look at the rough-looking hologram. Metal tolerated the following rant, gaining nothing of value from the presentation. He didn't even appreciate the two very nice-looking promotional posters for the fights. After the translucent man dismissed those remaining, Metal uncrossed his arms and calmly made his way into the gate. Once again, the computer requested a stage, though it was faltering. The bot noted that.

"Beep."

The world took shape around him in a mishmash of Zanzibar Land and Speed Highway, which was essentially just the highway running up the length of the island. The sky was illuminated by daylight, not a single cloud in sight. The sun was in the middle of the sky at its noontime spot, giving optimal illumination to the battlefield. Zanzibar Land itself was mostly unchanged, still two islands surrounded by cliffs on each side. The Speed Highway stretched indefinitely from the ocean horizon, with the occasional loop or twist. It rose over the cliff on one side, suspended above the main compound, soared over the forested swamps, stretched above the squeaky sands, and then twisted up the 30-story tower, only to go right down at a steep angle to level out just above the Bridge of Sorrow. It went on to go over the detention camp and disappear into the other horizon, a rollercoaster-like layout the whole way.

Metal Sonic appeared at the section of bridge above the main compound of the place, but didn't stay for long as he immediately zoomed into the sky, using the sun's glare as cover as he assessed the situation and devised his next move.

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

Specter


Master Chief had elected to strip the destroyed sentinel of it's weapon, firing the laser at Specter's shield, which slowly turned red after the beam struck it. How interestingly resourceful, however wasteful. Specter curled a finger, the corpse of the sentinel dismantling into several sharp segments before flying back at the Spartan's flank. Since he couldn't see the sentinel's components, the odds of him bringing his shield to defend himself or evading all the attacks were slim.

And to attract his attention from the front, he used his left hand to hoist a thick magnetic plate floating in the gondla shaft, hurling it toward him in a pincer movement.

 

[ArmedBlue]

Rebellio
​

Chief had left for his fight, leaving Rebellio as the only one still remaining in the lobby. Glancing down at Kalmiya's chip one last time, the Falcon headed for the gateway, grasping his Falcon Quill with his free hand as he did so.

Once he stepped through, Rebellio was surprised to find that both of his opponents (or rather, temporary ally and opponent) had already chosen their stages, the three now located on an island surrounded by cliffs, a similar island located nearby, with a highway stretching all the way through the length of the island, almost like a rollercoaster, Rebellio himself standing east of the main compound, Metal barely noticeable on top of the bridge before zooming off.

Pulling the overshields module he'd received earlier out of his pocket, Rebellio activated the fist-sized device. The module disappeared in a flash of light, a barely noticeable energy projection soon being cast over his body, Rebellio looking himself over as the device took effect. 10 minutes if it's not taking damage, and it can take a real beating... The Falcon thought, stretching his arm out in front of him, Falcon Quill in hand. He was confident this was the right time to use Chief's gift.

Drawing a circle with his Falcon Quill, the Adept manifested a magic circle in front of himself, which quickly spewed a dark spiral back towards Rebellio before collapsing on him, transforming him in a flash of light. Now possessing black and white armor, long, floating white hair, and a crimson halo above his head, the Falcon followed Metal's moves as well as he could, the sun eventually obscuring him from view.

A crimson Gatling gun made out of thread manifested in Rebellio's hands, ready to open fire once Metal Sonic came back within sight.

 

[comic]

Solid Snake​

Zanzibar Land looked almost exactly as he remembered it. They had appeared near the main complex, the sun shining bright on them from overhead. Snake took only a moment to refamiliarize himself with his surroundings, casting a glance at Rebellio. In a lot of ways, the kid reminded him of Raiden.

And then he transformed into some kind of sheep cosplayer.

Snake blinked, then looked away, beginning to think Rebellio wasn't that much like Raiden after all.

Metal Sonic zipped up ahead, utilizing his flight ability to his advantage, using the sun as a backdrop. Snake closed his uncovered eye, using the solid eye to continue to track Metal, unhindered, blocking out the brilliant light by casting a film over the output, allowing Snake to see Metal clearly (or as clearly as one could, considering he was just a dark blob in front of the ball of gas).

"He's being cautious," Snake noted, directing his words to Rebellio. "Distract him while I find a way to keep him on the ground."

With that, the soldier slunk his way toward the facility, his stealth suit activating to conceal him, the soldier turning invisible. The suit also rendered infrared impossible to detect him, as it actively blocked inner heat from displaying.
​

Master Chief​

Had he still had Kalmiya, she could have warned John of the weaponized wreckage of the sentinel carcass. While the Mjolnir Gen 3's energy shields were built strong against ballistic weapons, slower moving things like the shrapnel were slightly more likely to bypass the energy shield. So the bits of shrapnel that hit him that bypassed his shields clunked off his armor, scratching the paint coating, but a couple rare shards stabbed into the exterior of his exosuit, the armored black padding he wore beneath the bulkier green Mjolnir. One piece in particular broke through to stab into the Spartan's thigh, something he didn't even feel until his suit flashed a warning of a suit breach, and acted to release a little bit of biofoam to prevent infection.

It was the metal plate John was more concerned about, as he instead focused on that by angling his legs, before kicking out. Just as the metal was about to hit its mark, 117's boot slapped into it, spinning it up to his shoulder, glancing off of it.

Before he landed, his grappleshot fired out to grasp the plate, and with a rapid spin, he released the plate at an angle to intersect with Specter now, Chief landing on the gondola as he released. Turning his back to Specter, he walked toward the gondola's control console, placing a hand upon it to activate it again (unless intersected).​

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

Specter


Oh? How peculiar. No attempt to dodge? It's almost as if that AI of his is losing it's focus.

Temporarily activating the systems of Lola to scan for the AI, Specter soon realized something: she wasn't even here. Not a sensor feint or a trick, she simply wasn't here. Now why was that?

As Master Chief flung the magnetic plate toward him, Specter focused the shield around him to compress, allocating towards the front only. So when the shield was impacted, it shattered, but enough to displace the magnetic plate, sending it wobbling back into the air, floating on it's merry way.

"So! Where has your ally gone off to? Is she in this facility? Or did you leave her out of this fight because you know your defeat is inevitable?"

While Chief reactivated the Gondola to give chase towards Specter, the ape was no concerned. Curling his fingers, he focused on moving a large Tesla pylon from the left of the room. He flexed his hands, the Pylon cracking and falling down on the slow moving Gondola. The Tesla Pylon would make a brief electric Pulse from the impact before continuously zapping anything unfortunate enough to be close to it.

 

[comic]

Master Chief​

The answer to Specter's question was simple: John didn't want Kalmiya to end up in Specter's "care", as Lola had, though 117 gave no verbal response, instead activating the gondola, and looking back toward Specter as he curled his fingers (seen by John's HUD magnification via thought-based controls): a telltale sign of him utilizing his psychic abilities. It was obvious what was going on as a large pylon tower suddenly detached from the other side of the gap that the gondola stretched across, falling down toward the gondola.

With it moving closer quickly, and with no immediate explosives to knock it aside, Chief overloaded his suit's shield systems, locking his armor as he slammed his fist to the ground. His body enveloped by the overloading white light of his energy shields, his body locked into place, the tesla struck the gondola. While it wasn't enough to knock it down, it made the platform shudder and shake, electricity sparking all about, connecting with 117, though he didn't budge as the coils rolled against the overloaded shields, and the pylon swung off the gondola, falling into the abyss, the last connecting sparks of electricity dissipating as the armor lock ended, an EMP pulse bursting from Chief's suit as his overloaded energy shields finally broke.

Shields alarm beeping, John tugged the shrapnel out of his side, tossing it aside as the gondola reached Specter's location. Due to the overload, the shield systems would need to reboot, tripling their usual reload time. The Spartan brought up his Sidekick, firing rapid shots toward Specter, noting his barrier had been knocked out by the metal plate---though there was no telling if the energy to project another had been gathered. The answer would reveal itself in due time.​

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

Specter


An opening is secured, how excellent!

Specter swerved his chair so the backrest faced Chief, so as the pistol rounds hit it, a blink of blue light was seen on the other side. That's when three Specters emerged from above the chair and on either side of it. Which one was true one?

He wasn't going to give him the time to figure it out. So the Specter's on the sides fire three psychic bolts on either side of the Gondola, limiting the amount of ways Chief could evade. Meanwhile the one over it would complete the walking off by sending a fan of three psychic bolts down the center.

 

[comic]

Master Chief​

Specter grew in confidence. Good.

As the simian split himself (a move Chief hadn't been aware of him being able to pull), the back of the chair obscuring quite possibly the true Specter from sight---unless one of these was the real one, Chief holstered the Sidekick. John wasn't sure if any duplicates could deal damage, but he'd seen the hologram tech the Covenant used, some rare Elites using shiny metal balls to project an image of themselves that wasn't quite physical, but could deal real damage regardless. John just had to assume this was no different, and as the Specter's mobilized about him, firing more of the cyan bolts, the Spartan responded by raising his cap shield, using his other arm to raise the sentinel beam.

A short burst of red energy cut into the Specter's bolts on his right, the energy phasing out the psychic attack from that one. As for the other two, Chief tilted his arm, making the shield move horizontally, each attack pummeling into it. The Spartan was quick to follow up with another burst from the sentinel beam. He wasn't targeting the Specter's however, as he was aiming for Specter's chair still floating behind them, aiming to either burn into it, or more likely, set it on fire (as was the entire design of sentinel beams).​

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

Specter


The red beam shot right at the chair, starting to burn it as bright orange cracks formed on the foundation, spidering across it. While this was happening however, all the Specters, save one vanished. The one dead above. Now a mere couple feet up from Chief, his energy began to condense around him.

"Hiyah!"

Suddenly, a burst of energy exploded outwards from him, encompassing a large swath of area. One of Specter's deadliest moves, which nearly killed Dark Matter in a single blow previously. Stuck on a tight Gondola right next to him? This would surely spell doom to the Spartan.

 

[comic]

Master Chief​

John wasn't ignorant to Specter's movements. While he couldn't predict what the ape would do, he knew that the simian wouldn't just let him destroy his beloved throne. The center Specter revealed himself as the true one, energy beginning to swirl and condense about him. This one... this one he knew. It had been used in one of Specter's first battles, and if 117 wasn't mistaken, it was one hell of an attack. He acted quickly, aiming his wrist down to the ground as he brought his thinning barrier to bear. Just before Specter released his attack, the repulsor activated, proving its secondary function. On one hand, it could knock enemies or attacks back, but it could also be used for a dramatic boost into the air, as John was doing right now.

With the burst of the repulsor, Chief jumped up high into the air, Specter's attack releasing a split second later. Energy burst lethally outward in a massive psychic explosion. Despite the distance Chief covered, he was still at the mercy of the attack. As his shield became engulfed, his thrusters activated, bursting him backward. The acceleration from the repulsor helped in this regard, and the Spartan was flung to the edge of the attack, only catching the minimal edge of it, though his cap had been incinerated by the attack, and his other gauntlet had taken some damage, his arm partially blackened by the burn. Nothing too severe, though the entire left forearm was at 40% integrity, but according to a HUD notification, his repulsor had been fried. That couldn't be prepared mid-battle. He'd have to rely on his other tools.

Casting a grappleshot to the top of the gondola, John pulled out his sidekick, firing down at Specter as he began to rapidly re-approach following the massive attack, falling down upon the simian from above.​

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

Specter


The energy ripped through the air, the albino monkey receiving psychic feedback from it near the end, preventing extensive powers such as that for a time. However, his foe was not gone. They had brought their arms to bare on him, firing several shots in his direction. He frowned, calling upon his chair whilst unsheathing two energy blades. He raised their wrist guards over important sections of his body while the blade themselves provided protection over his arms.

Whilst this greatly helped in his stalling for time, the bullets provided some damage into the wrist gauntlets, sizeable fractures starting to form on the both of them. A bullet got through this protection as well, grasing past his chest, causing some white fur to stain in red.

"Tch, reckless."

At this point, his chair arrived. Placing himself within it's protection, the thrusters roared, shooting off the Gondola and then below it. The Gondola itself would now provided natural protection while Specter caught his breath, attempting to recharge his stronger psychic potential faster

 

[comic]

Master Chief​

No you don't.

Specter was attempting to flee, revealing how vulnerable he truly was in the moment. If Chief's sensors hadn't been lying to him, he'd just deal the first damage to Specter himself, as well as his on-person equipment. Top that off with the integrity of his chair decreased thanks to the sentinel beam (which only had enough juice in it for one more blast), and the match was closer than one might have expected. Specter climbed back into his chair, which zoomed off, the Spartan crashing into the gondola a moment later, a shockwave of energy erupting from around him---though Specter was outside of the blast.

117 burst forward, reaching the end of the gondola the moment Specter sunk beneath its horizon line. With a small jump, the Spartan crested below the side, grasping onto the edge of the platform with his free hand as he turned upside-down, his boots magnetically attaching to the underside of the gondola, before he continued to open fire on the fleeing Specter with his sidekick.​

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

Specter

Hearing the metal boots clanking above him, he knew that the human would give chase to him. So he manifested a psychic ring in front of him, the chair adjusting him so he was well behind the right side of the ring as bullets bounced off the psychic barrier. That's when the ring was cast forward towards Master Chief in an attempt to make the defense an offense.

However, it wasn't done there. The chair was to fight for the more psychically dampened Specter, missiles firing out to track the human, aiming to explode on and above the ledge he clang to.

 

[comic]

Master Chief​

Another barrier, and another ring. Without the repulsor, it wouldn't be as simple as before, but Specter made the mistake of summoning more missiles. A fresh clip was slapped into the sidekick. This time, the missiles would server a different purpose. Once again, his eyes were the precursor to tracking the trajectory of the attack headed for him, but rather than wait for the missiles to catch up to the ring as it approached him, growing smaller, the Spartan emptied the entirety of his clip out on the rockets, firing at one after the other, aiming for the chain reaction like before, but this time in lethal proximity of his enemy, so even if Specter saw the strategy, he wouldn't be able to stop all the bullets, not while already mentally exhausted, and exhausting himself further by keeping his barrier and the ring active.

As the old clip slid out of the sidekick, falling into the abyss below, 117 leaped forward, his thrusters activating almost instantaneously, and as he moved, he angled himself like a missile on his own, passing through the increasingly smaller circle in the center of the ring, though he didn't stop there. His thrusters could be used twice in quick succession, and upon the second use, his cloaking would engage, whether he liked it or not. So rather than face directly at Specter, the Spartan used the second thrust to burst downward, his body becoming almost completely invisible, nothing but a shimmer in the light---and they were in the shade. There was no light to reveal him as well.

Then, Chief would cast his grappleshot directly at the bottom of the hovering chair (reminding Chief of the Prophet thrones he'd seen a few years back), he would zip right toward the bottom of the chair, pulled along with it if it moved, and he'd slam his fist into it, releasing an EMP shockwave simultaneously as the electrified cable of the grappleshot would build to release such a blast, all while the Spartan was almost completely invisible to the naked eye.​

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

Specter

The missiles detonated close by both parties, the explosion would not leave both untouched. But as the smoke dissipated, there were a pair of servo hands stretching from the back of the chair, both of which had covered Specter with their gloved mitts...or why was left of them. The clothed mits seemed to burn off into cinders as the mechanical hands now shows their true iron state underneath, wriggling their fingers in an intimidating fashion.

That's when the Spartan cloaked. During the brief period this happened, it was followed up by something hitting the bottom of his chair. It didn't take a genius to figure out what that was.

"Hm! I don't think so."

One of the Servo hands gripped the cable, releasing a powerful Tesla shock through the cable, which was no doubt connected to the now unshielded Spartan. This tesla shock could make a human going full sprint fall to their bellies in brief exposure, so the focus like this would certainly poke a hole in this plan of his.

What happened was that the following Emp pulse and the Tesla charge canceled each other out, rocking both the chair and the wire. However it did result in the revealing of Chief's position, a offshoot of electrical charged firing off all across the cable.

The second Servo arm reached down like a baseball glove, ready to intercept Chief as he got in close somehow during this intrusive shock therapy. Right when he was to land the blow, it would catch the hand, releasing a second Tesla shock right on his person.

 

[comic]

Master Chief​

His EMP blast was cancelled out by a tesla shock from Specter's chair, and a second hand moved to intercept his hand, pulled back to release a devastating punch. As his cloaking shield disengaged (it only lasted for a couple seconds), he threw his fist forward, slamming into the servo arm, releasing all the energy into it, though it failed to stop the Spartan, pushed back to get potentially crushed between Chief's fist and the bottom of the chair. What he hadn't expected was the release of more electrical energy. High in voltage, low in current. His rubberized exosuit was immune, but the bit of armor it did touch was quick to conduct its way through the Mjolnir Gen 3.

Any normal being would have seized up, the electricity overloading their nerves, freezing them up, but the Spartan was no stranger to tesla electricity. In fact, it's what his Dynamo Grenades used, and he'd been on the receiving end of dozens of those. They didn't make him seize up, usually just rapidly draining his shields, and if those were down, picking away at his health. It was much the same here, his HUD displaying a slow decrease to his health, but he didn't allow it to last.

Barely a second went by between Chief impacting the bottom of the chair, before he pushed off with both hands, leaving the air pressed into the dented metal of the chair, a couple arcs of electricity feebly reaching out for him, but his push had cast him down quickly. His purpose for evacuating so suddenly was the fizzing blue ball of plasma his other hand had left attached to the bottom of the throne, right beside the hand embedded into the chair. Once it stuck to a surface... that was it.​

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

Specter


"Tch!"

His chair had been rocked back as Chief leaped off of it. Take it Tesla wasn't that effective. However, what was alarming was an increasing power source growing stronger. Chief had planted a little surprise for him. The chair was lost...but so would his foe.

"No rest for the wicked, dear human!"

That's when Specter too leaped off the chair in the opposite direction as Chief, but now without delivering one last order. You see, Chief made one fatal mistake: his cable was still firmly gripped by the second hand. The arm would retract inside of the chair, pulling Chief by proxy closer to it before the chair had spun. Like a fork rolling in spaghetti, it wrapped the cable around itself before-

BOOM!

The grenade went off, supposedly taking Master Chief down with it.

 

[comic]

Master Chief​

His HUD alerted to him that the cable wasn't being able to retract. It hadn't broken through the grasp of the servo hand. Instinctively, just as it tugged Chief out of his dive, the Spartan ordered his suit to "cut the cord", or more accurately, to release it. The servo rolled and retracted, pulling in a limp cord with it, as the Spartan assessed his next response.

He could allow himself to drop down the abyss, he knew that i was a barren, flood-infested wasteland down there (unless altered by Specter's map choice), or he could use his thrusters to boost himself back up to the gondola and magnetically attach himself. Considering he'd seen Specter leap up from his chair, it had to be assumed that the simian planned to stay with the gondola, and if Chief fell into the abyss, there was no telling if Specter would go after him to continue the fight, or just to simply wait until the Host was forced to play his hand at picking the pace of the fight back up.

The tug from the cable had pulled up Chief enough, though outside of the primary blast radius, he quickly engaged his thrusters, pushing himself up and to his left, flipping upside down for his boots to attach to the underside of the gondola as the ape's throne was engulfed in white-blue plasma. Whatever remained of it toppled down into the abyss.

The hum of recharging energy shields signified Chief was back to a high operational status again, even with the loss of the repulsor and his grappleshot. That did limit his mobility a bit, but Specter's loss of the chair limited his as well. They were even.​